Boeing assigns jet work to region

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Boeing Co. assigned much of the design work for its upgraded 777X wide-body jet away from the Seattle area, where the planemaker historically has done most of its engineering and production. Some of the work will come to Long Beach.

Design tasks on Boeing's biggest twin-engine jet will be split among five engineering centers in Long Beach; Charleston, S.C.; Huntsville, Ala.; Philadelphia and St. Louis, supported by a facility in Moscow, the company said in a memo to employees. No decision has been made on Seattle-area design or production, Boeing said.

“Our goal is to leverage skills from across the Boeing enterprise,” said the memo Wednesday from Mike Delaney, commercial airplanes vice president of engineering, and Scott Fancher, vice president of airplane development. “We are leveraging lessons learned on 787 and 747-8 to ensure continuity across the 777X program to accomplish the key design work.”

Boeing is trying to avoid the delays that plagued the 787 Dreamliner and the latest version of the 747 jumbo jet as it modifies the 777, the company's top seller among its current twin-aisle models.

The 777X may garner as many as 255 orders worth $87 billion when it is introduced at the Dubai Airshow next month, according to people familiar with the matter.

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